- Health experts have blamed increase in deaths among youths on too much alcohol intake

- The experts, spearheaded by the University of Michigan, said that young persons within the age group of 25-34 years are mostly affected by liver diseases caused by uncontrolled consumption of alcohol

- As a way of curbing the trend, the team recommended that governments should discourage adverts that promote alcoholic beverages

Foreign health researchers have blamed most liver diseases on the increasing consumption of alcohol, adding that this has brought about high mortality, especially in the western world. .

A team of health experts led by the University of Michigan recently discovered that deaths due to cirrhosis (a severe liver disease) is on the rise in the United States (US). A report published by the team indicated that an increasing number of people acquire cirrhosis because of too much intake of alcohol, Premium Times reports.

Elliott Trapper, the lead researcher, who is also a liver specialist from the famed institution, and his colleague, Neehar Parikh, revealed that in 1999-2016 the number of deaths caused by cirrhosis has been on the rise in 49 out of 50 states.

The researchers found that death caused by cirrhosis have gone up by 65 per cent and alcohol use is a prominent cause of late stage liver diseases. Regrettably, as the report show, the most affected population are the youths, stressing that adults within the age bracket of 25-34 from America-India and Hispanic are prone to the killer disease.

The study further showed that the highest average rise in cirrhosis-related deaths annually was seen among young adults at an approximately 10.5 per cent rise each year.

Tapper stated that they thought they would see improvement when it comes to the number of deaths due to liver diseases, “but these data make it clear. Even after hepatitis C, we will still have our work cut out for us.

"There has been an improved treatment of hepatitis C and this was expected to reflect on the number of deaths related to liver diseases. We suspect that there is a connection between increased alcohol use and unemployment associated with global financial crisis. But more research is needed,” he said.

During the seven-year period of the study, 460,760 cirrhosis related deaths occurred. Of these, approximately one third were due to a type of liver cancer called ‘hepatocellular carcinoma’. This stems from cirrhosis.

Parikh warns that the rapid rise in liver deaths underscores gaps in care and opportunities for prevention.

The researchers said that the states where most cirrhosis deaths have been recorded are Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, and New Mexico. Only Maryland indicated a decrease in liver disease-related.

They also said that liver disease due to alcohol consumption is entirely preventable, urging states to implement strategic measures, such as the implementation of alcohol taxes, and placing limitation on adverts that propagate alcoholic beverages.

NAIJ.com gathered that the minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun, in March, 2018 announced that the president had granted a grace period of 90 days to manufacturers of the products. Adeosun said that the new excise duty rates would spread over a three-year period from 2018 to 2020 in order to moderate the impact on prices of the products.